Mass Combat: Quiver Abilities
Home>Tabletop Games>System-Agnostic>Mass Combat System Many units have special abilities, collectively called a Quiver. These abilities are described below. Each ability has a Cost. '''This is the number of unit construction points the ability costs to have. Benefits come in several types: '''Active, Passive, If…, After…, '''and '''Initial. An Active benefit can be applied by taking the Use Ability action; the unit may apply any number of Active benefits at once. A Passive benefit is “always on”; it applies at all times. An If… benefit applies if and only if the condition is met. An After… benefit applies once, immediately and automatically after the stated time or condition. An Initial benefit applies once, when the ability is first gained. Some abilities grant the ability to interact with other Points. These abilities measure distance along one movement type (that is, a unit cannot make a Ranged Attack ''that switches between Ground and Air to reach a target that has no purely Ground or purely Air route), adding up the distances of the Paths involved. At the game master’s discretion, some of these abilities may require that the unit actually have the movement type involved (for instance, a unit without the Phase movement type probably cannot shoot through walls along a Phase Path), or may disallow abilities used along certain movement types entirely (such as Rail or Tunnel). The Abilities Anti-(Movement Type X) The unit can block enemies with a particular movement type. '''Benefit (Passive):' The unit may take the Block action on (X) Paths. Benefit (Passive): '''The unit ignores the ''Evade: (X) ''ability of other units. '''Cost: '''3. Banding The unit works well with others. '''Benefit (Passive): All adjacent allied units gain a Mild bonus to all actions. Benefit (Active): All adjacent allied units gain a Major bonus to all actions this turn. Cost: '''5. Carrier: (Number X) The unit can carry other units with it. '''Benefit (Active): If the unit completes a movement this turn, it may bring another allied unit of ≤ X with it. Cost: '''1. Double the cost for every category by which X is above the Attribute Base. Crowd Control: (Number X) When up against a sea of people, the unit can part it. '''Benefit (Passive): '''The unit can make Punch Through attempts as though it were in a Point up to X away. '''Cost: '''1. Double the cost for every category by which X is above the Attribute Base. Deploy: (Movement Type X) The unit lends its movement to other units. '''Benefit (Active): Until the end of the turn, allied units in the same Point may take Move actions as though they had movement type X. Cost: '''3. Double the cost if X is an exotic movement type. Detect: (Number X) The unit can break stealth. Use this ability only if you are using the Intelligence rules. '''Benefit (Passive): '''If the unit would have a chance to reveal a unit with the Stealth ability, the other unit rolls X extra dice. '''Cost: '''X Donate: (Ability X) The unit has an ability that can be given to other units. '''Benefit (Passive): '''At any time, you may remove this ability. Any allied unit in the same Point gains it. At the game master’s discretion, this can fail if it would produce nonsense results. '''Benefit (Active): Gain X until the end of next turn. Cost: 'X’s Cost + 1. Evade: (Movement Type X) The unit simply can’t be touched by most enemies. X must be a movement type the unit has. If the unit somehow loses the movement type, it also loses ''Evade. '''Benefit (If Point has a Path with X): '''The unit’s Quantity cannot be reduced by Attack or Mop Up actions, nor can its commanders be eliminated by Decapitate or Mop Up actions, involving units that have neither the (X) movement type nor the ''Anti-(X) ''ability. This explicitly includes the unit’s own actions. '''Cost: '''5. Double this if X is an exotic movement type. Guerrilla The unit is good at taking what advantages it can. '''Benefit (Passive): The unit takes an extra action each turn, which must be Block, Claim, or Entrench. Cost: '3. Hospital The unit is dedicated to healing. '''Benefit (Passive): '''If the unit takes an action in Step 2-4, it suffers one iteration of ''War Crime. Any unit that takes these actions targeting a Hospital ''without ''War Crime ''suffers one iteration of ''War Crime. '''Benefit (Active, If not Out Of Supply): '''One unit in the same Point heals Quantity. '''Cost: '''5. Partial Superweapon: (Ability X) A trick that is useful when reaching another unit. This ability requires GM approval, and should only be granted to units that are far apart. '''Benefit (Active): '''If the unit is in the same Point as another friendly unit with a Quiver ability identical to this one, remove Partial Superweapon and add X to either unit. '''Cost: '''X’s cost ÷ 3. Provisions (Number X) The unit carries its own stores of food and ammunition. '''Benefit (Active): '''Remove all iterations of ''Out Of Supply ''from the unit. Reduce X by 1. '''Benefit (Passive): '''Each time the unit removes an enemy line of supply with the Cut Line action, increase X by 1 to a maximum of its original value. '''Benefit (Active): '''If the unit is in a Point with an allied line of supply, set X to its original value. '''Cost: '''X × 3. Ranged Attack: (Number X) Reach out and touch someone. '''Benefit (Passive): The unit can take Attack and Mop Up actions against targets in Points up to X away, and against targets that are no more than X moves from arriving in the unit’s own Point. The unit does not lose Quantity from these actions unless the target also has a Ranged Attack ''able to reach the unit. '''Cost:' 1. Each category by which X is above Base doubles the Cost. Recruitment The unit can conscript, train, or drop new units. Benefit (Active): '''The unit may attempt a Very Hard* Logistics check. If successful, the unit gains (one die) construction points that may be spent on new units; each new unit costs 5 points in addition to any spent on improving it. The new unit forms in the unit’s Point. Any enemy unit in the same Point may prevent this action. If the enemy unit was hidden, for instance by the Stealth ability, it is revealed as soon as it does so. '''Cost: '''15. *Each step of reduction in this difficulty adds 3 to the Cost. Research The unit may attempt to create new abilities. '''Benefit (Active): The unit may attempt a Hard* Logistics check, or a Hard check using another appropriate skill. Each successful check grants the unit one construction point that may be spent on the Donate ''ability. The unit may save these points from turn to turn. '''Cost: 7 '*Each step of reduction in this difficulty adds 3 to the Cost. Snipe: (Number X) 'The unit can take out leadership from far away. Benefit (Passive): '''The unit can take Decapitate actions against targets in Points up to X away, and against targets that are no more than X move points from arriving in the unit’s own Point. It is at no risk of losing commanders to these actions unless the target also has a ''Snipe ''ability able to reach the unit. '''Cost: '''1. Each category by which X is above Base doubles the Cost. Speed: (Movement Type X) 'The unit is faster than normal on some terrain. '''Benefit (Active):' '''If the unit moves on an (X) Path this turn, treat its Quickness as one category higher for purposes of the Move action. '''Cost: '''6 ÷ movement types. Stealth: (Number X) The unit can hide. Use this ability only if you are using the Intelligence rules. '''Benefit (Passive): For''' each unit that would remove Fog Of War ''from this unit’s Point, roll one die. Unless at least X of these dice come up 1 in the same Perception step, the unit remains hidden as though by ''Fog Of War. '''Benefit (Passive): ''All of the unit’s actions while hidden from its target’s side are at a Moderate bonus, and the Decapitate action automatically starts combat. Any action reveals the unit to its target’s side. '''Cost: '''X.'